How to get election printing contracts

The ballot is the anchor, but the contract usually covers everything the office mails or hands out.

Multi-language requirements matter. Under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, covered jurisdictions must provide materials in the covered languages, and California and several other states add their own thresholds. A county with four covered languages has four times the ballot styles and a voter guide that may run over a hundred pages.

California is the model for direct state regulation. Under Elections Code 13004, the Secretary of State approves each ballot card manufacturer and finisher. The regulations at Title 2, Chapter 4 of the California Code of Regulations set out the process:

• A written application disclosing facility, equipment, paper vendor and any known flaw in the manufacturing or finishing process.
• A test run of 5,000 ballot cards for each ballot style for each voting system the printer seeks approval on, completed within 90 days of the accepted application, by a state-approved testing agency or the voting system vendor.
• Zero accuracy errors and a rejection rate not exceeding two percent.
• Facility controls: a method to identify each person who has accessed the warehouse and when, encrypted ballot image files with unique user credentials, and activity logs retained at least 90 days after the election.
• Reapplication every two years after the last successful inspection; a missed renewal is immediate decertification.

The current list of approved printers is four companies, certified across the Dominion ImageCast, ES&S Electionware and Hart Verity systems. That is the whole California market.

Most states do not go this far. North Carolina General Statute 163-165.9 requires county boards to comply with the voting system vendor's ballot printer specifications and allows noncertified printers only under conditions the state board sets. In practice the voting system vendor tests your output, approves your stock and process, and lists you. Start with the vendor whose systems are used in the counties you want, and expect the approval to take months.

Election printing runs backward from dates that cannot move. For a November general election in a federal year:

The proofing window is the risk. A county with 300 ballot styles in four languages needs every one proofed, corrected and signed off in about two weeks, and a candidate withdrawal or a court order can reset a style at any point. Your proposal has to show proof turnaround measured in hours, a named production lead who has done it before, and press capacity held in reserve for the reprint.

The Postal Service publishes its election mail guidance in the Official Election Mail Guide, Kit 600. The points that appear in county solicitations:

• Official Election Mail logo. A registered mark for use on ballots, sample ballots, voter registration cards and absentee applications, so voters and postal employees can distinguish official material from political mail.
• Tag 191. The green Domestic and International Ballots tag on containers, which flags ballot mailings for expedited handling.
• First-Class handling. Mailpieces containing a completed ballot are handled as First-Class Mail whether the county prepaid the return or the voter affixed a stamp.
• Intelligent Mail barcode. USPS strongly recommends a serialized barcode on every outgoing and return piece so the county can track individual ballots. Counties increasingly require it.
• Timing. USPS advises that voters mail completed ballots at least a week before the deadline, and that officials build the same margin into the outbound schedule.

Envelope design is where mail-house experience shows. The return envelope carries a signature area, a privacy flap, a barcode that the county's sorter reads on receipt, and often a postage-paid business reply or permit indicia. Get a USPS Mailpiece Design Analyst review before you commit to a die.

Every election solicitation carries a security section, and the county audits it after award. Expect to document:

• Badge-controlled production and warehouse areas with a log of every entry.
• Camera coverage of the ballot production floor with retention through the post-election canvass.
• Serialized ballot counts reconciled at every stage: printed, spoiled, delivered, retained.
• Encrypted transfer and storage of ballot layout files, with unique credentials per user.
• Background checks for staff with access to ballot stock.
• Certified destruction of spoilage and overruns, with certificates delivered to the county.
• Sealed, tamper-evident delivery with chain-of-custody forms signed at each handoff.

Counties also ask for a disaster recovery plan: what happens if your press goes down two weeks before mail date. A named backup facility on the same voting system approval is the answer they want, and it is one reason approved printers sometimes subcontract to each other.

Election contracts are usually multi-year, awarded by RFP rather than sealed bid, and scored on experience and security as much as on price. A typical price schedule:

Two habits win. First, answer the security and continuity sections with named facilities, named people and dates from the last election you printed, not with policy language. Second, name the county elections official who will take a reference call during the evaluation window. A first-time election printer can enter through sample ballots, voter guides or polling place materials, which do not require voting system approval, and build the reference the ballot contract demands. See how to respond to an RFP for the mechanics and how to build an RFP compliance matrix for keeping the forms straight.